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January 9, 2015 - At the Thursday, January 8, 2015 Mariposa County Business Association meeting at the Miner's Roadhouse 140 in Mariposa, Grace B. Magsayo P.E., Project Manager - Senior Transportation Engineer for Caltrans, provided an update on the Ferguson Slide Permanent Restoration Project.

grace-magsayo(Left: Grace B. Magsayo P.E.  Project Manager - Senior Transportation Engineer for Caltrans
Photo credit: Sierra Sun Times)

Fast Facts:


The project will have two phases: rock removal and the rock shed construction.

Rock removal to begin Spring 2015.

113,000 tons of rock to be removed.

30-40 trucks a day, six days a week for 90 days during the summer months.

The material will be transported on Highway 140 to Highway 49 North to the Mariposa County Landfill.

Rock Shed construction to begin Spring 2016 for three years.


The following are excerpts from the meeting:

The Ferguson Slide has not moved for the last few years and is stable.

There will be two phases with the talus (rock) removal being the first and then to erect the rock shed.

After the rock shed is completed the temporary bridges will be removed and the area restored.

The two phases of the Ferguson Slide Restoration Project will cost $17.6 Million for the phase one rock removal and the rock shed construction will come in around $80.0 Million.

The talus removal contract has been signed with Myers and Sons. The rock shed will be the second one built in the state of California with the first one located near Big Sur. The rock shed near Big Sur, a three year project finished last year, is around 250 feet long while the one in Mariposa County will be around 700 feet long.

The talus removal is dependent on the weather but they are hoping for early spring, possibly March, 2015. The area where the rock shed will be constructed is in a highly environmental sensitive area with the Merced Wild and Scenic River and the Limestone Salamander. 

The first work to be performed will be the installation of fiber rolls to keep sediment out of the Merced River, staff surveys for environmental species, environmental fencing installed, ground probes for movement, anchors will be installed for a material like chain link netting that will cover the hillside to keep rocks from falling onto the workers and a road will be built for benching.

With 113,000 tons of rock to be removed it will be about six weeks after the phase one work is begun before trucks will be used to haul the rock away. The material will be transported on Highway 140 to Highway 49 North to the Mariposa County Landfill. The material will used for daily cover at the landfill.

Because of worker safety the rock removal will be performed during daylight hours on a ten to twelve hour daytime shift (beginning maybe around 6:00 A.M. six days a week). It is estimated once the trucks are loaded there will be about five trucks an hour on the roads for a total of somewhere between 30-40 trucks a day for around 90 working days. It is projected to be the latter part of April to possibly August the trucks will be on the roads.

Traffic delays will have an impact during the summer months but no long term closures are planned. Instead of using the current lights on the temporary bridges a pilot car will be utilized. Possibly 15 to 30 minute delays. The U.S. Forest Service has fire danger days during the summer and if that occurs work will have to stop.  

Residents at the meeting had a concern over Caltrans signage on the lighted highway signs in Mariposa and Merced County, they would prefer to not use the word 'detour'. Residents also said this project could be promoted positively to the tourists visiting the area.

The rock shed design will be finalized after the rocks are cleared in the fall and the engineers can test the existing road bed and hillside with core bores. Caltrans is hoping to have a contract signed for the rock shed in Spring of 2016 with a forecasted three year build out.

New photo renderings of the rock shed will be available to the public when Caltrans attends a Mariposa County Board of Supervisors meeting during February 2015. Concrete castings to look like rock will be utilized during the construction for 'Rock Walls'. The current rock at the site cannot be used for making concrete.